November 15, 2019 , Russia

ISU Grand Prix of 2019/20 , Day 1 Russian skaters dominated on day one of their home Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup in Moscow in the Short Programs and on Friday. World silver medalists /Nikita Katsapalov, two-time World Champion , Champions Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii and European silver medallist Alexander Samarin ended the first day on top of the standings in their respective categories. Samarin leads Russian sweep in Men’s Short Program Alexander Samarin led the Russian men to an unexpected sweep in the Men’s Short Program. Dmitri Aliev and Makar Ignatov joined Samarin in the top three.

Skating to “Blues for Klook” by Eddy Louiss, Samarin hit a big quadruple Lutz-triple toeloop combination and a somewhat shaky triple Axel as well as level-four spins and footwork. However, the 2019 European silver medalist fell on his quadruple flip. The Muscovite scored 92.81 points. “First of all I want to thank the crowd for their support, I really enjoyed skating here. There were mistakes in the short program, but the competition is not over yet,” Samarin commented.

Aliev’s performance to “Je dors sur les roses” from “Mozart l’Opera Rock” featured a triple Lutz- triple toeloop combination, a quadruple toeloop and triple Axel. The bronze medalist earned 90.64 points.

“There were some errors, the Lutz in the combination should have been a . Overall I’m pleased, but I would have liked to open up more in the step sequence and to make the program brighter,” the 20-year-old shared. “The choreographers gave this music to me and I watched the opera on Youtube and I really liked how they played on stage and I wanted to bring that on to the ice,” he continued.

Newcomer Ignatov, who is competing in his first ISU Grand Prix event, landed a quadruple Salchow-triple toeloop combination, a quadruple toeloop and a wobbly triple Axel to post a personal best of 87.54 points. “I did not expect to be in the top three. I was just happy that I showed everything that I can do, all the elements. The rest does not depend on me,” the skater from St. Petersburg said.

Less than one point separates the skaters ranked third to sixth. Olympic silver medalist (JPN), who missed his quadruple flip attempt, remains close to the podium in fourth place on 87.29 points. Deniss Vasiljevs (LAT) is currently ranked fifth (87.08 points) followed by Skate Canada silver medalist (CAN) on 87.01.

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Men.

Sinitsina/Katsalapov (RUS) capture Rhythm Dance on home ice World silver medalists Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov of Russia made the most of home advantage to take the lead in the Rhythm Dance, setting a new personal best score en route. Skate Canada Champions Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier of Canada came second followed by Spain’s Sara Hurtado/. Sinitsina/Katsalapov put out a peppy performance to “Singin’ in the Rain” that was highlighted by fast twizzles, intricate steps and a rotational lift. The Shiseido Champions collected a level four for the twizzles and the lift while the midline step sequence and the Finnstep Pattern merited a level three. The Russian Champions posted a new personal best score of 86.09 points. “The support of the home crowd was incredible, you don’t feel any tiredness but you just have fun out on the ice,” Katsalapov said. “We are overall pleased with our performance, but this is not the very best that we could do, we’re not even halfway through the season. We’ll continue to work, but now we’ll take a deep breath and get ready for the ,” he added. Dancing to “Mack and Mabel”, Gilles/Poirier produced difficult twizzles, a rotational lift and a swinging step sequence, collecting a level four for the twizzles and the lift, a level three for the midline step sequence and the Pattern type step sequence. The 2019 Four Continents bronze medalists earned 82.56 points. “Piper and I were quite pleased with our performance. There were a few sticky moments here and there as we went through the performance. We spent a lot of time after Skate Canada trying to focus on the speed of the program, just getting all the movements really big and taking up more space and I think that’s been really effective. We felt like character of the program really projected out from us and was able to reach the top, top of the arena,” Poirier explained. Hurtado/Khaliavin’s dance to “Hello Dolly” included level-four twizzles and a level-four rotational lift, while the Finnstep pattern was rated only a level one. The 2018 Rostelecom silver medalists scored 72.01 points. “It was a lot of fun for us to skate in Moscow, it now feels like a second home to us,” Hurtado, who trains with her partner in the Russian capital, said. “In our program, we felt that the work we’ve put in since Skate Canada is starting to show. We still have to fix some little things in the technical aspect of the program, but it feels like a good starting point for the next competitions and look for that personal best in the future,” she noted. /Maksym Spodyriev (POL) are currently ranked fourth on 69.97 points, followed closely by /Saulius Ambruvelicius (LTU) on 69.79 points. Anastasia Shpilevaya/ (RUS) finished sixth with 67.04 points. ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Ice Dance.

Medvedeva (RUS) leads over Trusova (RUS) in Ladies Short Program Olympic silver medalist Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia took a lead of almost three points over up and coming teammate Alexandra Trusova in the Ladies Short Program. Mariah Bell (USA) placed third in the first segment of the competition. Medvedeva delivered an excellent performance to “Exogenesis Symphony Part III” by Muse, landing a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, a triple loop, double Axel and completing level-four spins and steps. The two-time World Champion scored a personal best of 76.93 points. “I am happy with my skate, because it finally worked out the way it should. I hope that everyone has seen my work and Brian (Orser, coach) is happy,” the 2019 World bronze medalist noted. “It was the right decision (to return to the triple loop). I’ve done that before and every time I did it, my points went up,” Medvedeva added. Trusova’s dynamic program to “Peer Gynt” included a triple flip, double Axel, triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination as well as difficult spins and footwork. The two-time World Junior Champion earned 74.21 points. “There were still mistakes I need to fix and I hope I’m going to do everything tomorrow (in the ),” the 15-year-old said. “In practice this morning I was still doing Lutz-loop (for the combination), but afterwards I was told to do better Lutz-toe today,” the Skate Canada Champion explained. Skating to “Radar” and “Work” by Britney Spears, Bell produced a double Axel and triple Lutz, but fell on the triple flip-triple toeloop combination. She picked up 67.11 points. “I’m overall a little disappointed in my performance today. Regardless of where I place or how many points I get, I always feel best if I go out and skate the best I can and that didn’t happen today, but I’m looking forward to the long program tomorrow,” the bronze medalist commented. Alexia Paganini (SUI) celebrated her 18th birthday in style with a clean performance that earned her a personal best of 65.12 points and fourth place. Ekaterina Ryabova (AZE) finished fifth with another strong program on 64.01 points. Two-time World medalist Satoko Miyahara (JPN) popped her Lutz into a double and stumbled on it to finish sixth (63.09 points). ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Ladies.

Youngsters Boikovoa/Kozlovskii lead Russian sweep of Pairs Short Program

Russian skaters got the better of the competition once again with a clean sweep of the Pairs Short Program to add to the earlier dominance of the Men’s Short Program. Youngsters Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii led the charge ahead of reigning World silver medalists Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov and the new team of /.

Kozlovskii fell in the warm up and crashed into the boards, but skated perfectly with Boikova in the Short Program to “My Way”. The 2019 European bronze medalists executed a triple twist, side by side triple Salchow, throw triple Lutz and collected a level four for the twist, death spiral, reverse lasso lift, step sequence and the side by side spin. The Skate Canada Champion achieved a new personal best with 80.14 points. “It was a long day, the practice was early and there was a long break. We’re happy how everything went, but it would not be right to say anything specific about today, because tomorrow will be the main day,” Kozlovskii told the post event press conference. “This happens, the ice is slippery,” he continued when asked about the fall. “Obviously, it was unexpected and an unfortunate fall. However, there is no reason to make a hero out of me. I just could not let down my partner and my coaches. Therefore, after that I just went out and skated as if nothing had happened.”

Skating to Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero”, Tarasova/Morozov landed a triple twist, side by side triple toeloop and throw triple loop. However, Morozov stumbled in the step sequence. The two-time European Champions picked up a season’s best with 76.81 points. “Overall we did all our elements, but obviously there were some errors in the end that affected the impression of our program, but the free skating is tomorrow and we’ll keep the concentration for the elements at the end,” Morozov noted.

Stolbova/Novoselov, who had teamed up in 2018, debuted in competition. Their performance to “Rebirth” by Hi-Finesse featured a triple twist, throw triple Lutz and three level-four elements, but Novoselov doubled the side by side toeloop. The team scored 68.74 points. “First of all we’re very happy that we finally are competing and to be here at the home event. As for the performance, there were positive and negatives sides to it. There is something to work on, but overall we’re pleased,” said Stolbova, who is the 2014 Olympic silver medalist with former partner Fedor Klimov.

Minerva Fabienne Hase/ (GER) remain within striking distance to the podium in fourth place at 67.74 points. Evelyn Walsh/Trennt Michaud (CAN) are currently ranked fifth with 62.76 points.

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Pairs.

Rostelecom Cup continues Saturday with the Men’s Free Skating, Free Dance, Ladies and Pairs Free Skating. Overall, 60 skaters/couples representing 19 ISU members compete at Rostelecom Cup November 15-17. The top 6 qualifiers of the Grand Prix series in each discipline will proceed to the Final in Turin (ITA), December 5 to 8, 2019. Full entry lists, results, the General Announcement of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series are available on isu.org. Where to watch and follow the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019? Viewers will be able to watch the Series either via their national broadcaster / channel and for countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel as of season 2019/20. You will find the full list in the Where to watch news here.

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ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019/20 Skate America - Las Vegas (USA) – October 18 – 20 Skate Canada International – Kelowna (CAN) – October 25 – 27 Internationaux de France – Grenoble (FRA) – Novembre 1 – 3 SHISEIDO cup of China – Chongqing (CHN) – November 8 – 10 Rostelecom Cup – Moscow (RUS) – November 15 – 17 NHK Trophy – Sapporo (JPN) – November 22 – 24 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (Senior & Junior) – Torino (ITA) – December 5 – 8

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series started in 1995 (previously known as the ISU Champions Series) and consists of six international senior invitational events and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The skaters are seeded and invited to the six Grand Prix of Figure Skating events based on the results of the previous ISU World Figure Skating Championships. Competitors collect points in their ISU Grand Prix events towards the qualification for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Only the top six Skaters / Couples in each discipline can qualify for the Final.